Welding accessory arrangement

ABSTRACT

A welding accessory system for a welder that includes a welder having a welder housing and at least one welding accessory support connected to the welder housing to support at least one welding accessory of a welder. The one or more welding accessory supports include a cable holder, an electrode holder, a cooling fluid holder, a cylinder gas holder, a cable connector box, and/or a tool holder.

This invention pertains to welding machines, and more particularly to anarrangement or system for conveniently attaching to and/or integratingone or more welding accessories with a welder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of welding machines are used to perform a variety ofwelding functions in the workplace. Typically, a welding machineincludes a welder housing which encases a welding circuit. On thewelding housing there is typically a series of control switches tocontrol the output of the welder. The welder housing also includes aconnector for a welding gun or torch. Depending on the type of welderand/or the magnitude of the current generated by the welder, varioustypes of accessories are connected to the welder or used in associationwith the welder. The accessories can include welding gases, shieldinggases, cooling fluids, consumable electrodes, and the like. In additionto the various accessories associated with a particular weldingoperation, the welder requires tools to facilitate in the maintenanceand operation of the welder. Such tools can include wrenches, screwdrivers, wire cutters, welding tips, tape, clamps, etc. The use of thesevarious accessories and tools require a welding operator to carry a toolchest for the various tools used with the welder, and to also separatelytransport the welding gas and/or shielding gases, the cooling fluid,welding cable, welding gun or torch, and/or electrodes. As a result, theinitial set up of a welder in a particular location and/or the movementof the welder to various locations is both difficult and time consuming.In addition, there sometimes is difficulty finding a suitable locationfor all the accessories used with the welder. Commonly, weldingoperations take place in small locations and/or on unlevel ground. As aresult, it is sometimes difficult to find a suitable location toposition the welder and the various accessories about the welder so thata welding operation can proceed.

Many welders include a welding cable which attaches the welding gun ortorch to the welder. This welding cable is typically several feet long.When a welding operation is terminated and/or the welder is to be movedto another location, typically, the welding cable is bunched up into apile about the welder and/or placed on top of the welder. Bunching upthe welding cable can result in damage to the fluid tubes and/orelectrical connections inside the cable. In addition, laying the weldinggun or torch on the ground and/or placing the welding gun or torch onthe top of a welder can result in damage to the welding gun or torch ifthe welding gun or torch is inadvertently stepped on and/or falls offthe top of the welder. During the transport of the welder to variouslocations, the welding cable typically must be disconnected from thewelder and separately transported, since there is no convenient mannerof transporting the welding gun or torch and welding cable with thewelder without exposing the welding cable and welding gun or torch todamage.

In view of the present state of the art of welders, there is a need fora welder or welding assembly which can easily and conveniently transportone or more welding accessories associated with the welder to reduce theburden and time of set-up and the time necessary to transport the welderto a new location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a welder, and more particularly to awelder which utilizes shielding gases and cooling fluids during thewelding operation; however, the invention is not limited to such weldersand can be used with many different types of welders and weldingsystems.

In accordance with a principal aspect of the present invention, a welderis provided which includes a housing for the internal components of thewelder, such as a welding circuit. Typically, the welding circuit can beused with a TIG welder, plasma arc welder, MIG welder, STT welder, MAGwelder, and the like; however, the welding circuit can be used withother types of welders. Typically, the welding circuit in the housingcontrols the amount of current, voltage, power, and/or wave form of thecurrent directed to the welding tip of a gun or torch of the welder. Thewelding circuit may also control the amount and/or type of shielding gasdirected to the welder, the consumable electrode feed rate, the typeand/or amount of cooling fluid directed into the welding gun or torch,the arc start-up sequence, the storage of various welding parametersduring the welding process, and/or the like.

A welding gun or torch is used in association with the welder. Thewelding gun or torch is attached to the welder by a welding cable. Thewelding cable is designed to transport an electrical current generatedby the welding circuit in the welder to the welding gun or torch. Thewelding cable may also include other components used to transportshielding gases and/or cooling fluid, fiber optic cables, a channel fora consumable electrode, and/or electrical cables to monitor one or moreparameters of the welding operation. The welding gun or torch attachedto the welding cable can be any standard or custom welding gun or torchwhich includes a welding body and a welding head. One end of the weldingcable is connected to the body of the welding gun or torch and the otherend of the welding cable is connected to the connectors on the welder.In one aspect of the present invention, a cable holster is connected tothe housing of the welder. The cable holster is designed to eitherpartially or fully support the welding cable so that the Welding cablecan be conveniently transported with the welder and/or the welding cablecan be neatly positioned near the welder during storage and/or operationof the welder. In one embodiment, the cable holster is connected to oneside of the housing of the welder. As can be appreciated, the weldingholster can be attached to other regions of the housing such as therear, top, front, or other side of the welder housing. In anotherembodiment, at least two cable holsters are positioned on the welderhousing. In still another embodiment, at least one cable holster istypically attached to one side of the welder housing and the other cableholster is connected to the other side of the welder housing, the rearof the welder housing, the front of the welder housing, and/or the topof the welder housing. In yet another embodiment, the cable holsterincludes a cable landing to support at least a portion of the cablethereon. In one aspect of this embodiment, the cable landing is designedto enable the cable to be wrapped about the cable holster such that onlya portion of the cable is supported on the cable landing. In anotheraspect of this embodiment, the cable landing has an arcuate shape tofacilitate in the wrapping of a portion of the cable about the cableholster. In still yet another embodiment, the cable holster includes aretaining flange designed to retain at least a portion of the cable onthe cable landing. In one aspect of this embodiment, the flange isconnected to the outer edge of the cable landing and extends at leastpartially upwardly from the outer edge of the cable landing. In such adesign, the retaining flange at least partially entraps the weldingcable between the welder housing and the retaining flange to maintainthe welding cable on the cable landing.

In another aspect of the present invention, a gun holder is provided onthe housing. The gun holder is designed to at least partially supportthe welding gun or torch on the welder and to provide a convenientlocation to store the welding gun or torch while the welder is not inuse and/or when transporting the welding gun or torch with the welder tovarious locations. In one embodiment, the gun holder is connected to theside of the welder housing. However, it can be appreciated that the gunholder can be connected to various other locations on the welderhousing. In another embodiment, two gun holders are provided on thewelder housing to provide multiple locations to support a welding gun ortorch. In one aspect of this embodiment, one gun holder is designed tosupport a welding gun or torch that is connected to the welding cableand the second gun holder is designed to support an extra welding gun ortorch for use with the welder. This extra gun or torch can be used as areplacement for the primary welding gun or torch. In another aspect ofthis embodiment, the one or more gun holders are connected to a cableholster which is connected to the welder housing. In one particulardesign, the gun holder is connected to the retaining flange of the cableholster so that the welding gun or torch can be conveniently positionedin the gun holder after the welding cable is at least partially wrappedand supported on the cable holster. In yet another embodiment, the gunholster includes a gun landing designed to support at least a portion ofthe head of the welding gun or torch. In one aspect of this embodiment,the gun landing lies in the plane which is non-parallel to a levelground surface in which the welder is positioned. This non-parallelsurface of the gun landing is designed so as to enable the body of thegun or torch to be positioned substantially perpendicular to the groundsurface upon which the welder is positioned. Typically, the gun or torchhead is positioned in a non-perpendicular configuration relative to thewelding body, thus the gun landing is positioned at an angle so as toaccommodate such welding gun or torch designs. As can be appreciated,the gun landing can be positioned in a plane, substantially parallel tothe ground surface. In a further embodiment, the gun holder includes agun slot at least partially positioned in the gun landing. The gun slotprovides an opening so the body of the welding gun or torch can passthrough the gun landing while the head of the welding gun or torch is atleast partially supported by the gun landing. In still a furtherembodiment, the gun holder includes at least one retaining leg designedto at least partially maintain a portion of the head of the welding gunor torch on the gun landing. In one aspect of this embodiment, theretaining leg is positioned on the outer edge of the gun landing andextends at least partially upwardly therefrom. In another aspect of thisembodiment, two retaining legs are positioned on the gun holder, whereinone leg is connected to the inner edge of the gun landing and the otherretaining leg is connected to the outer edge of the gun landing and boththe retaining legs extend at least partially upwardly from therespective edges of the gun landing. In still yet a further embodiment,at least one retaining leg includes a gun slot to enable the body of thewelding gun or torch to be easily positioned in the gun landing.Typically, the gun slot in the retaining leg corresponds to the positionof the gun slot in the gun landing.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the cable holster and/orgun holder can be removably connected to the welder housing and/oreffectively permanently connected to the welder housing. In oneembodiment, the cable holster is effectively irremovably connected tothe welder housing by the use of bolts, welding, screws, and the like.In another embodiment, the cable holster is removably connected to thewelder housing. In one aspect of this embodiment, the cable holster isremovably connected to the welder housing by use of a slot connectiondesign, wherein the cable holster and/or welder housing include a slotto position a pin or head of a bolt into the slot to connect the cableholster to the welder housing. In another embodiment, the gun holder iseffectively irremovably connected to the welder housing and/or cableholster by bolts, welds, screws, and/or the like. In still anotherembodiment, the gun holder is removably connected to the welder housingand/or cable holster by use of a slot arrangement. In one aspect of thisembodiment, the gun holder is removably connected to the cable holsterand/or welder housing by use of a slot connection design, wherein thegun holder and/or welder housing includes a slot to position a pin orhead of a bolt into the slot so as to connect the gun holder to thewelder housing.

In another aspect of the present invention, a cable connector box isprovided for an easy and convenient connection of the welding cable tothe welder and/or one or more other welding accessories to the welder.The connector box includes at least one connector designed to releasablyconnect one or more connectors on the welding cable. Typically, thecable connector box includes a plurality of connectors so that a widevariety of welding cables can be connected to the cable connector box.In one embodiment, the connectors on the connector cable box for thewelding cable include, but are not limited to, an electrical connector,a cooling fluid connector, a shielding gas connector, a torch gasconnector, a consumable electrode connector, a welding data sourceconnector, and/or the like. In another embodiment, the cable connectorbox is connected to the welder housing. In one aspect of thisembodiment, the cable connector box is connected to the side of thewelder housing. If a cable holster and/or gun holder are connected tothe welder housing, the cable connector box is typically mounted on thesame side of the welder as the gun holder and/or cable holster. Inanother aspect of this embodiment, the cable connector box is positionedrearwardly of the cable holster. In still another embodiment, the cableconnector box includes a protector door designed to at least partiallyprotect one or more of the cable connectors for the welding cable. Inone aspect of this embodiment, the protector door is moveable between anopened and closed position, wherein the opened position allows easieraccess to one or more of the cable connectors on the cable connector boxand the closed position at least partially protects one or more of thecable connectors from damage and/or the outside elements. In anotheraspect of this embodiment, the protector door is hingably connected tothe cable connector box; however, the many different other arrangementsfor the connection of the protector door to the cable connector box canbe used. In yet another embodiment, the cable connector box includesinstructions to provide an operator with information on the correctconnection configuration for the welder cable onto the cable connectorbox. In still yet another embodiment, the cable connector box includesone or more switches designed to activate one or more of the cableconnectors. The switches are typically used to activate certainconnectors so that a particular type of welding operation will beexecuted correctly. In still another embodiment, at least one of theconnectors on the cable connector box is configured differently fromanother to ensure that the proper connection of a particular connectoron a welding cable is connected to the proper connector on the cableconnector box. In a further embodiment, the cable connector box includesone or more accessory connectors designed to be connected to one or morewelding accessories. These welding accessories include, but are notlimited to, a cooling fluid source connector, shielding gas sourceconnector, a torch gas source connector, a welding current sourceconnector, a consumable electrode source, a welding monitoring sourceconnector, and/or the like. In one aspect of this embodiment, one ormore of the welding accessory connectors are positioned on the rear sideof the cable connector box. In yet a further embodiment, instructionsare provided adjacent to one or more welding accessory connectors toprovide information to a welding operator as to the proper connection ofa particular welding accessory so as to ensure that the weldingaccessory connector is properly connected to the cable connector box. Instill yet a further embodiment, one or more switches are positioned nearthe welding accessory connectors so as to activate one or more of thewelding accessory connectors. In another embodiment, the weldingaccessory connectors are releasably attached or essentially permanentlyattached to one or more connectors for the welding accessory.

In still another aspect of the present invention, an electrode holder isprovided on the welder to support one or more stick electrodes, fillerwires, or one or more containers of stick electrodes or filler wires. Invarious types of welding operations, stick electrodes or filler wiresare used during the welding process. These stick electrodes or fillerwires can range in size from several inches to several feet in length.Typically, the stick electrodes or filler wires are stored in elongatedtubular canisters designed to allow for easier transport of the stickelectrodes or filler wires and to protect the electrodes and fillerwires from the elements prior to welding. The electrode holder, isdesigned to support one or more stick electrodes, filler wires and/orone or more electrode containers so as to enable a welding operator tomore conveniently and more easily transport the welder and weldingelectrodes or filler wires to a particular welding operation. In oneembodiment, the electrode holder includes at least one opening designedto receive one or more stick electrodes, filler wires and/or one or morecontainers of stick electrodes or filler wires. In one aspect of thisembodiment, the electrode holder includes a plurality of openings spacedapart from one another designed to receive one or more stick electrodes,filler wires, and/or one or more containers of stick electrodes orfiller wires, and to support the electrodes, filler wires, and/orcontainers of electrodes or filler wires at a plurality of locationsalong the longitudinal length of the electrodes, filler wires, and/orcontainer of electrodes or filler wires. In one aspect of thisembodiment, the electrode holder includes a plurality of spacedcomponents connected to the side and/or back of the welder housing. Inone particular design, the electrode holder components are spacedvertically along the side and/or back of the welder housing, such thatthe openings in the components are aligned with one another to allow thestick electrodes, filler wires, and/or containers of stick electrodes orfiller wires to be inserted through the openings. In another embodiment,the electrode holder includes a base landing to support the bottom ofone or more stick electrodes, filler wires, and/or one or morecontainers of stick electrodes or filler wires. In one aspect of thisembodiment, the base landing includes a flange to maintain the bottom ofthe stick electrodes, filler wires, and/or containers of stickelectrodes or filler wires on the landing.

In another aspect of the present invention, a cooling fluid holder isconnected to the welder housing. In one embodiment, the cooling fluidholder includes a cavity for retaining one or more tanks of coolingfluid. In another embodiment, the cooling fluid holder includes a cavityto hold one or more pumps to pump cooling fluid from one or more coolingfluid tanks to the welding cable and through the welding gun or torch.In one aspect of this embodiment, the pumps can be manually controlledand/or automatically controlled by the welding circuit of the welderduring the welding operation. In still another embodiment, the coolingfluid holder includes one or more doors or drawers which can be openedso as to allow an operator access to the cooling fluid tanks and/orcooling fluid pumps within the cooling fluid holder cavity. In yetanother embodiment, the cooling fluid holder includes one or moreconnectors designed to connect the cooling fluid from the cooling fluidholder to the welding cable and/or welding accessory connector on thecable connector box. In still yet another embodiment, the cooling fluidholder is connected to the base of the welder housing. In one aspect ofthis embodiment, the base of the welder housing is welded to and/orbolted to a top portion of the cooling fluid holder. In another aspectof this embodiment, the base of the cooling fluid holder includes wheelsto enable the welder and cooling fluid holder to be moved over a groundsurface.

In still yet another aspect of the present invention, a tool holder isprovided with the welder housing. The tool holder is designed to holdone or more welding tools or welding accessories for use during thewelding operation and/or during the preparation of a welder for aparticular welding process. In one embodiment, the tool holder is atleast partially positioned on the top portion of the welder housing. Inone aspect of the embodiment, the tool holder includes a door whichallows access to a tool cavity. In one particular design, the tool dooris pivotally connected to the welder housing to allow the weldingoperator to open and close the tool holder. In another aspect of thisembodiment, the tool cavity includes a tool tray to provide compartmentsfor one or more welding tools and/or welding accessories. In anotherembodiment, the tool holder is positioned in the side, back and/or baseof the welder housing. In one aspect of this embodiment, the tool holderis connected to the base of the welder housing and includes one or moredrawers or doors to provide access to the interior of the tool holder.The one or more drawers provide storage area for bulkier items such as,but not limited to, welding helmets, welding goggles, foot pedals,cables, tubes, rope, tape, chains, locks, and the like. In anotheraspect of this embodiment, the tool holder that is connected to the baseof the welder includes wheels to enable the welder and the tool holderto be transported over a ground surface.

The principal objection of the present invention is to provide a welderwhich is easier to set up and/or transport to various locations.

Another and/or additional object of the present invention is to providea welder which supports one or more welding accessories of the weldersuch as, but not limited to, a welder cable, electrodes and/or fillerwires, cooling fluid, a gas welding gun or torch, welding tools and/orwelding accessories, and/or a tool holder.

Yet another and/or additional object of the present invention is toprovide a welder which includes a cable holder designed to at leastpartially support the welding cable of a welder.

Still another and/or alternative object of the present invention is toprovide a welder housing which includes a gun holder designed to atleast partially support a welding gun or torch.

Still yet another and/or alternative object of the present invention isto provide a welder housing which includes an electrode holder designedto at least partially support one or more stick electrodes, fillerwires, and/or one or more containers of electrodes or filler wires.

Still yet a further and/or alternative object of the present inventionis to provide a welder housing which includes slidable door for acooling fluid, wherein such drawer is designed to at least partiallysupport the cooling fluid for a particular welding process and/orcomponents of a cooling fluid system.

A further and/or alternative object of the present invention is toprovide a welder housing which includes a cylinder gas holder designedto at least partially support one or more cylinders of gas.

Still a further and/or alternative object of the present invention is toprovide a welder housing having a cable connector box designed to be atleast partially connected to a welder cable and/or designed to be atleast partially connected to one or more welding accessories and/or to awelding current generated by the welder.

Still yet a further and/or alternative object of the present inventionis to provide a welder housing which includes a tool holder designed tohold one or more welding tools, and/or welding accessories.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a welder which iseasy to assemble, easy to connect the welding accessories of a welder tothe housing of the welder and/or easy to transport the weldingaccessories along with the welder to various locations.

Still another and/or alternative object of the present invention is toprovide a welder which minimizes damage to the components of the welder.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the followingdescription taken together with the accompanied drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference may now be made to the drawings which illustrate variousembodiments that the invention may take in physical form and certainparts and arrangements of parts wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the welder showing the various weldingaccessories supported on the welder housing of the welder;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the welder in FIG. 1 illustrating acable holder, a gun holder and a cable connection box connected to theside of the welder housing;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front portion of the cable box shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rear of the welder of FIG. 1illustrating a cylinder gas holder and an electrode holder connected tothe rear of the welder housing, and a cable holder, a gun holder and acable connection box connected to the side of the welder housing, and atool holder positioned on the top of the welder;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the front of the welder of FIG. 1illustrating the cooling fluid holder connected to the base of the weld;and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged top frontal view of the welder of FIG. 1illustrating the tool holder positioned at the top of the welder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for the purposeof illustrating the preferred embodiments of the invention only and notfor the purpose of limiting the same, FIGS. 1-6 illustrate a welder Wwhich includes several welding accessories connected to welder housing10. As shown in FIG. 1, welder housing 10 includes a top 12, two sides14 and 16, a back 17, and a base 18. On the face of the welder housingis a control panel 20 which includes several control switches 22. Thesecontrol switches control the parameters of the welder for a particularwelding process. A push bar 30 is connected to the front of the welderhousing: to enable an operator to conveniently move the welder housing,mounted on casters and wheels 250, 252, to various locations. The pushbar 30 includes a handle 32 that is connected between the ends of twoarms 34, 36. The arms are bolted to the welder housing by arm bolts 38.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 6, the top of welder housing 10 includes atool holder 40. Tool holder 40 is designed to hold one or more weldingtools and/or welding accessories such as, but not limited to, wrenches,screw drivers, screws, bolts, welding heads, seals, tube connectors, andthe like. Tool holder 40 includes a top tool door 41 which is hingablyconnected by door hinge 44 to the top of welder housing 10. Connected totool door 41 is a door latch 42 which secures the door in a closedposition. Tool holder 40 includes a tool cavity 46 in the top of thewelder housing. Positioned in tool cavity 46 is a tool tray 48 whichincludes a plurality of compartments to hold various types of weldingtools and/or welding accessories.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, side 14 of welder housing 10 includes acable holster 70. Cable holster 70 includes an arcuate landing 72designed to support a portion of a welding cable 90 that is wrappedaround the cable holster. Connected to the outer edge of landing 72 is aretaining flange 74. Retaining flange 74 extends at least partiallyupwardly from landing 72 so as to entrap welding cable 90 between side14 of welder housing 10 and retaining flange 74, as shown in FIG. 1.Retaining flange 74 is typically bolted in or welded to landing 72.Cable holster 70 is connected to side 14 of welder housing 10 by flangebolts 76.

Connected to the outer face of retaining flange 74 is a gun holder 80.Gun holder 80 includes a landing 82 designed to at least partiallysupport the gun or torch head 102 of a welding gun or torch 100.Connected to both the inner and outer edges of landing 82 are retaininglegs 84, 86 designed to maintain gun or torch head 102 on landing 82.Both the landing and retaining legs include gun slots 88, 89 to allowgun or torch body 104 to be easily positioned into and/or removed fromgun holder 80. As best shown in FIG. 2, landing 82 is mounted to cableholster 70 such that landing 82 is at a non-parallel angle with respectto the side of the welder housing and ground surface on which the welderis supported. The non-parallel angle selected for the landing issufficient to cause the gun or torch body 104 of welding gun or torch100 to substantially lie in the same vertical access as the side of thewelder and/or substantially perpendicular to the ground surface on whichthe welder is supported. This orientation is best shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a connector box 110 is connected to side 14of welder housing 10 and positioned rearwardly of cable holster 70.Connector box 110 includes a front face which includes a plurality offront connectors 118, 120, 122. These front connectors are designed toconnect one or more connectors on the welding cable. As shown in FIGS. 1and 2, the welding cable includes a plurality of cables which arebundled together within a cable housing 98. These cables typicallyinclude fluid tubes 92, 94 and an electric cable 96; however, othercables and/or tubes may be positioned in the cable housing. Typically,the electric cable is designed to electrically connect the welding gunor torch to the welder. The fluid tubes typically are designed totransport cooling fluid and/or a shielding gas to the welding gun ortorch and the workpiece being welded. As shown in FIG. 3, connectors118, 120, 122 may be differently configured so as to ensure that aspecific type of connector is only connected to the proper frontconnector. The front face of cable connector box 110 also includes aconnection selection switch 124 designed to activate and/or deactivatecertain front connectors of the connector box. The face of the connectorbox and the connector box are secured to the lower housing by aplurality of bolts 126. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a box door 112is hingably connected to the front of connector box 110 by door hinge114. On the inside face of box door 112 there is connection instructions116 which provide the welding operator with information on the properconnection of the welding cable to the connector box and/or providesinformation about the operation of the connection selection switch 124.Box door 112 is designed to at least partially protect the frontconnectors of the cable box from inadvertently being damaged and/or fromthe elements once the welding cable has been connected to the connectorbox.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, the rear face of cable connector box 110includes several accessory connectors 130, 132, 134. The accessoryconnectors are designed to connect various welding accessories used inthe welding operation to the connector box. Typically, the weldingaccessory connectors receive shielding gas and/or cooling fluid anddirect such shielding gas and/or cooling fluid to the front connectorsof the cable connector box. The back face of the connector includesconnector instructions 136, as shown in FIG. 4, to provide informationto an operator on the proper connection of the welding accessories tothe accessory connectors. As can be appreciated, accessory connectors130, 132, 134 can be differently configured so as to help ensure thatonly a certain type of connector can be connected to the accessoryconnector. Although not shown, connector box 110 may include one or moreflow controls or regulators to control the rate at which various fluidsflow through the connector box and into the welding cable. These fluidcontrols may be manually controlled and/or automatically controlled byone or more control circuits of the welding circuit of the welder.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, an electrode holder 140 is connected tothe back 17 of welder housing 10. Electrode holder 140 is shown tosupport an electrode container 220. The electrode container typicallyincludes one or more stick electrodes and/or filler wires. Electrodeholder 140 includes a top placement flange 142 which is connected to thesides and top of welder housing 10. Top placement flange 142 includestwo electrode openings 144, 146 which are adapted to receive electrodecontainer 220. Positioned beneath top placement flange 142 is anintermediate retaining ledge 160 which is connected to the back ofwelder housing 10. Intermediate retaining ledge 160 also includes twoelectrode openings 162, 164. As shown in FIG. 4, openings 144 and 162and openings 146 and 164 are aligned vertically with respect to oneanother so that electrode container 220 can be vertically positioned intheir respective openings. Top placement flange 142 and intermediateretaining ledge 160 are secured to the welder housing by bolts 166.Positioned on the back top edge of cooling fluid holder 200 are twoelectrode landings 170, 172. Each electrode landing includes a landingbase 178, 180 and a landing retaining flange 174, 176 respectively. Asshown in FIG. 4, the base of electrode container 220 rests on landingbase 178, 180 and the landing retaining flanges 174, 176 maintain thebase of the electrode container on the landings.

Referring specifically to FIG. 4, top placement flange 142 includes twoarcuate cylinder contours 148, 150 which form part of the gas cylinderholder. The cylinder gas holder is designed to support one or morecylinders of gas. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the top portion of gascylinders 230 partially fit into the contours which help stabilize thecylinders in position. Top placement flange 142 also includes a retainerarrangement that includes several chain hook openings 152 designed toreceive chain hooks 154 which are in turn connected to retaining chains156, 158. The retaining chains are designed to maintain the top portionof the gas cylinders in cylinder contours 148, 150. Connected to thebottom portion of cooling fluid holder 200 is a base support 190. Basesupport 190 includes a landing 192 upon which a portion of the base ofgas cylinders 230 is supported thereon. Base support 190 also includestwo arcuate base or cylinder contours 194, 196 which are verticallyaligned with cylinder contours 148, 150 on top placement flange 142.Cylinder contours 194, 196 are designed to at least partially encircle alower portion of one or more gas cylinders so as to at least partiallymaintain one or more gas cylinders 230 on landing 192. As shown in FIGS.1 and 4, a cylinder regulator 232 is typically connected to the top ofgas cylinder 230 and supplies a fluid through cylinder hose 234 fromcylinder regulator 232 to one of the accessory connectors on cableconnector box 110. Typically, gas cylinder 230 supplies shielding gas,cooling fluid and/or torch gas and/or the like to the welding gun ortorch.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, a cooling fluid holder 200 isconnected to the base of welder housing 10 by a plurality of base bolts254. Cooling fluid holder 200 is in the form of a cabinet frame whichincludes two front drawers 202, 204 each having handles 206, 208. Thedrawers are illustrated in FIG. 5 as containing fluid tanks 210. One ormore of the drawers may also include a fluid pump 212 which is designedto circulate the cooling fluid through the welding gun or torch. Asshown in FIG. 5, one or more of the fluid tanks may include a cap 211 toallow an operator to refill and/or change the cooling fluid in thetanks. Referring now to FIG. 4, the back face of cooling fluid holder200 includes a vent 240 to allow for air circulation within the coolingfluid area. The back face of the cooling fluid holder also includesfluid connectors 214 designed to be connected to fluid tubes 216, 218.As discussed above, fluid tubes 216, 218 are designed to be connected tothe accessory connectors on connector box 110. As can be appreciated,one of the drawers of the cooling fluid holder may be used as a storagecompartment for various types of tools such as, but not limited to, eyevisors, welding helmets, welding cables, welding gun or torch, footpedal, cables, tubes, ropes, chains, and the like, so as to provideextra storage space for the welding system.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment and alternates thereof. It is believed that manymodifications and alterations to the embodiments disclosed readilysuggest themselves to those skilled in the art upon reading andunderstanding the detailed description of the invention. It is intendedto include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they comewithin the scope of the present invention.

We claim:
 1. A cable assembly for a welder, said welder including awelder housing having a top portion, at least one side portion, awelding circuit to at least partially generate a welding current that isat least partially housed in the welder housing, and at least one cableconnection to connect a welding gun or torch to said welder; said cableassembly including a cable holster at least partially positioned on saidat least one side portion of said welder housing, said cable holsterhaving a cable landing and a retaining flange adapted to maintain saidcable on said cable landing, said cable landing having an inner edgepositioned at least closely adjacent to said side portion and an outeredge spaced from said side portion, at least a portion of said retainingflange extending upwardly from the outer edge of said cable landing,wherein said cable landing has an upwardly facing surface cradling saidcable, said surface having an arc in a plane generally parallel to saidat least one side portion of said housing.
 2. The cable assembly asdefined in claim 1, wherein said retaining flange and said side portionof said housing at least partially maintain said cable on said cablelanding.
 3. The cable assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein saidretaining flange and said side portion of said housing at leastpartially maintain said cable on said cable landing.
 4. The cableassembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said retaining flange includes agun holder adapted to retain at least a portion of said welding gull ortorch on said retaining flange.
 5. The cable assembly as defined inclaim 4, wherein said gun holder includes a gun landing, a retaining legand a gun slot at least partially positioned in said gun landing, saidgun landing adapted to support at least a portion of a head of saidwelding gun or torch, said retaining leg adapted to maintain at leastsaid head of said welding gun or torch on said gun landing, said gunslot adapted to enable at least a portion of a body of said welding gunor torch to extend through said gun slot while a portion of said head ofsaid welding gun or torch is supported by said gun landing.
 6. The cableassembly as defined in claim 5, wherein said gun slot is at leastpartially positioned in said retaining leg.
 7. The cable assembly asdefined in claim 6, wherein said gun landing has an inner edgepositioned at least closely adjacent to said retaining flange and anouter edge spaced from said retaining flange, said at least a portion ofsaid retaining leg extending upwardly from the outer edge of said gunlanding.
 8. The cable assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein said gunlanding has a surface that lies in a plane which is non-parallel to asubstantially flat ground surface upon which said welder is positioned.9. The cable assembly as defined in claim 8, including a cable connectorbox positioned on said at least one side portion of said housing, saidconnector box including said at least one cable connector, said at leastone cable connector adapted to releasably connect to an electricalconnector on said cable.
 10. The cable assembly as defined in claim 9,wherein said cable connector box includes a plurality of cableconnectors adapted to releasably connect to said cable, at least two ofsaid cable connectors are selected from the group consisting of anelectrical connector, cooling fluid connector, gas connector, consumableelectrode source, and combinations thereof.
 11. The cable assembly asdefined in claim 10, wherein said cable connector box includes aprotector door, said protector door movable to an opened position toallow easier access to at least one of said cable connectors and aclosed position to at least partially protect at least one of said cableconnectors from damage.
 12. The cable assembly as defined in claim 11,wherein said cable connector box includes at least one accessoryconnector adapted to releasably connect to at least one weldingaccessory connector, said welding accessory connector selected from thegroup consisting of a cooling fluid source connector, shielding gassource connector, torch gas source connector, welding current sourceconnector, consumable electrode source, and combinations thereof.
 13. Acable assembly for a welder, said welder including a welder housinghaving a top portion, at least one side portion, a welding circuit to atleast partial generate a welding current that is at least partiallyhoused in the welder housing, and at least one cable connection toconnect a welding gun or torch to said welder; said cable assemblyincluding a cable holster at least partially positioned on said at leastone side portion of said welder housing, said cable holster having acable landing and a retaining flange adapted to maintain said cable onsaid cable landing, said cable landing having an inner edge positionedat least closely adjacent to said side portion and an outer edge spacedfrom said side portion, at least a portion of said retaining flangeextending upwardly from the outer edge of said cable landing, whereinsaid cable landing has an upwardly facing surface cradling said cable,said surface having an arc in a plane generally parallel to said atleast one side portion of said housing, wherein said retaining flangeincludes a gun holder adapted to retain at least a portion of saidwelding gun or torch on said retaining flange.
 14. The cable assembly asdefined in claim 13, wherein said gun holder includes a gun landing, aretaining leg and a gun slot at least partially positioned in said gunlanding, said gun landing adapted to support at least a portion of ahead of said welding gun or torch, said retaining leg adapted tomaintain at least said head of said welding gun or torch on said gunlanding, said gun slot adapted to enable at least a portion of a body ofsaid welding gun or torch to extend through said gun slot while aportion of said head of said welding gun or torch is supported by saidgun landing.
 15. The cable assembly as defined in claim 14, wherein saidgun slot is at least partially positioned in said retaining leg.
 16. Thecable assembly as defined in claim 15, wherein said gun landing has aninner edge positioned at least closely adjacent to said retaining flangeand an outer edge spaced from said retaining flange, said at least aportion of said retaining leg extending upwardly from the outer edge ofsaid gun landing.
 17. The cable assembly as defined in claim 16,including a cable connector box positioned on said at least one sideportion of said housing, said connector box including said at least onecable connector, said at least one cable connector adapted to releasablyconnect to an electrical connector on said cable.
 18. The cable assemblyas defined in claim 17, wherein said cable connector box includes aplurality of cable connectors adapted to releasably connect to saidcable, at least two of said cable connectors are selected from the groupconsisting of an electrical connector, cooling fluid connector, gasconnector, consumable electrode source, and combinations thereof. 19.The cable assembly as defined in claim 18, wherein said cable connectorbox includes a protector door, said protector door movable to an openedposition to allow easier access to at least one of said cable connectorsand a closed position to at least partially protect at least one of saidcable connectors from damage.
 20. The cable assembly as defined in claim19, wherein said cable connector box includes at least one accessoryconnector adapted to releasably connect to at least one weldingaccessory connector, said welding accessory connector selected from thegroup consisting of a cooling fluid source connector, shielding gassource connector, torch gas source connector, welding current sourceconnector, consumable electrode source, and combinations thereof. 21.The cable assembly as defined in claim 14, wherein said gun landing hasan inner edge positioned at least closely adjacent to said retainingflange and an outer edge spaced from said retaining flange, said atleast a portion of said retaining leg extending upwardly from the outeredge of said gun landing.
 22. The cable assembly as defined in claim 14,wherein said gun landing has a surface that lies in a plane which isnon-parallel to a substantially flat ground surface upon which saidwelder is positioned.
 23. A cable assembly for a welder, said welderincluding a welder housing having a top portion, at least one sideportion, a welding circuit to at least partially generate a weldingcurrent that is at least partially housed in the welder housing, and atleast one cable connection to connect a welding gun or torch to saidwelder; said cable assembly including a cable holster at least partiallypositioned on said at least one side portion of said welder housing,said cable holster having a cable landing and a retaining flange adaptedto maintain said cable on said cable landing, said cable landing havingan inner edge positioned at least closely adjacent to said side portionand an outer edge spaced from said side portion, at least a portion ofsaid retaining flange extending upwardly from the outer edge of saidcable landing, wherein said retaining flange includes a gun holderadapted to retain at least a portion of said welding gun or torch onsaid retaining flange.
 24. The cable assembly as defined in claim 23,wherein said gun holder includes a gun landing, a retaining leg and agun slot at least partially positioned in said gun landing, said gunlanding adapted to support at least a portion of a head of said weldinggun or torch, said retaining leg adapted to maintain at least said headof said welding gun or torch on said gun landing, said gun slot adaptedto enable at least a portion of a body of said welding gun or torch toextend through said gun slot while a portion of said head of saidwelding gun or torch is supported by said gun landing.
 25. The cableassembly as defined in claim 24, wherein said gun slot is at leastpartially positioned in said retaining leg.
 26. The cable assembly asdefined in claim 25, wherein said gun landing has an inner edgepositioned at least closely adjacent to said retaining flange and anouter edge spaced from said retaining flange, said at least a portion ofsaid retaining leg extending upwardly from the outer edge of said gunlanding.
 27. The cable assembly as defined in claim 26, wherein said gunlanding has a surface that lies in a plane which is non-parallel to asubstantially flat ground surface upon which said welder is positioned.28. The cable assembly as defined in claim 27, including a cableconnector box positioned on said at least one side portion of saidhousing, said connector box including said at least one cable connector,said at least one cable connector adapted to releasably connect to anelectrical connector on said cable.
 29. The cable assembly as defined inclaim 28, wherein said cable connector box includes a plurality of cableconnectors adapted to releasably connect to said cable, at least two ofsaid cable connectors are selected from the group consisting of anelectrical connector, cooling fluid connector, gas connector, consumableelectrode source, and combinations thereof.
 30. The cable assembly asdefined in claim 29, wherein said cable connector box includes aprotector door, said protector door movable to an opened position toallow easier access to at least one of said cable connectors and aclosed position to at least partially protect at least one of said cableconnectors from damage.
 31. The cable assembly as defined in claim 30,wherein said cable connector box includes at least one accessoryconnector adapted to releasably connect to at least one weldingaccessory connector, said welding accessory connector selected from thegroup consisting of a cooling fluid source connector, shielding gassource connector, torch gas source connector, welding current sourceconnector, consumable electrode source, and combinations thereof.